The Trump administration has had a rocky relationship with social media lately. Not only is the president himself at odds with multiple social media companies, but the users themselves are also finding creative ways to take him down a peg. One of his harshest critics? Claudia Conway, daughter to Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway. The 15-year-old is using her platform to speak out against the president, and her parents are not pleased.
Criticism From an Unlikely Source
Claudia’s anti-Trump views came to light when New York Times journalist shared a TikTok video of hers to Twitter.
“Kellyanne Conway’s daughter is an outspoken leftist TikToker,” Lorenz wrote above a video of the teen. A caption in her video asks “leftist, acab, anti-trump [and] blm” supporters to interact with her posts.
Kellyanne Conway’s daughter is an outspoken leftist TikToker.
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) June 30, 2020
“Believe it or not, you can have your own opinions simply by educating yourself,” she says in one video https://t.co/BLKEWuj1S2 pic.twitter.com/J807CAE95x
Since then, Claudia’s posts have gained a sizable following on TikTok — so much so that her parents have tried to intervene. In a TikTok she posted on July 12, Claudia said her parents had deleted many of her politically oriented posts — particularly her father, George Conway.
An outspoken critic of the president himself, Claudia’s father nevertheless seems uncomfortable with his daughter’s viral fame. In a tweet from July 3, he wrote, “To journalists: [Kellyanne] and I do *not* consent to any communications between you and any of our minor children, including our daughter Claudia.”
Regardless of the uncomfortableness this must cause Kellyanne when meeting with the president and White House staffers, there is also legitimate cause for concern. Trump supporters have attacked people who speak our against the president — both physically, verbally, and online — and minors are no exception. One teenage girl received numerous death threats after asking Trump a simple question at a political rally, which he angrily tweeted about later.
Nevertheless, Claudia would not be dissuaded. She hit back at her father in a reply to the tweet: “You’re just mad that I’m finally getting my voice heard. Sorry your marriage failed.”
Tensions seemed to come to a head later that day, when Claudia livestreamed a confrontation with her mother on TikTok.
“I’m just showing everyone the truth, you’re literally not letting me use my freedom of speech,” Claudia says in the video.
Kellyanne then responds, saying, “Daddy just wants you to shut it off because not everyone who follows you is well-meaning.” The livestream then lags as the mother goes to take the phone from her daughter, saying, “It’s mine.”
Claudia’s Crusade Continues
The Conway family drama continued this week when Claudia posted a TikTok on July 14 claiming that it would be her last because “my parents are making me delete all social media.”
Claudia kept posting, however, sharing multiple videos sarcastically expressing support for the president.
“Hi Smelly Kelly,” she says in one clip. “The rumors are true. I have been cured from my radical leftism, and now I love Trump and I love our president. MAGA.”
@claudiamconway Reply to @heyyyitscooper ##ColorCustomizer ##voiceeffects
♬ original sound – claudiamconway
Kellyanne isn’t the only White House official to have family speak out against the administration this week. The president himself is facing criticism leveled by his niece, Mary Trump, in a tell-all book that was released on Tuesday, July 14. Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man reportedly paints the president as a “narcissist” whos re-election “would be the end of American democracy,” according to Politico.
The author doubled down in an interview with ABC News, calling on her uncle to resign from the presidency.
“I saw firsthand what focusing on the wrong things, elevating the wrong people can do — the collateral damage that can be created by allowing somebody to live their lives without accountability,” she said. “And it is striking to see that continuing now on a much grander scale.”
Asked about the book’s contents, the White House referred reporters to an earlier statement on the book.
“Mary Trump and her book’s publisher may claim to be acting in the public interest, but this book is clearly in the author’s own financial self-interest,” the statement said.